Director’s Note
This year, our Silver Anniversary, we are exploring the question “What does it mean to be an American?” We did not set out to answer that question. We were and are more interested in examining and elevating the vastness of possibilities of answers through provocative experiences, perspectives, and stories. What we know and what we don’t know. With Amerikin, I’ve been curious (pun intended) about what really is the answer to that question. Is the answer respect for country? Or sharing a commitment to a set of values and ideals? Or something else? And, maybe more importantly, based on the title of the play, what do we mean by kin? How do we define it? Quickly, all our brains say family, of course. With Amerikin, our playwright, Chisa Hutchinson, is asking us to explore kin. Kin and common ancestry. Kin, common ancestry, and the connectedness to the casual nature of oppressive hate.
In talking about writing Amerikin, Chisa Hutchinson says “I wanted to do two things with AMERIKIN: write my way into some sort of understanding of the kinds of people for whom race is a reason to hate, and also hold them accountable for that hate in a society determined to excuse it. A tricky combination, but one that could maybe inspire others to do the same.” Amerikin asks us to understand each character, even if we disagree with them. Challenging us to examine our assumptions, the origin of our beliefs and its impact on our choices and/or behaviors, while confronting the limits of our ability for compassion, empathy, and understanding.
What does it mean to be an American? What if being American was rooted in being welcoming? Caring? Not holding grudges? Eliminating an “us” vs. “them” mentality? What would that require of us? Since 2020, we have seen a racial awakening and reckoning, and with that has come a heightened awareness of the difficulty and sometimes danger that exists in communicating across racial, economic, and political lines with compassion, empathy and understanding. When I first read this play, I immediately went back to the beginning and read it again. I was interested not only in its exploration of hatred and bigotry but also in its uplifting of the themes of belonging and community. The power of connectedness. I think the core of this play exists in one line, “Hate exists but so does basic human goodness”. What if being American, even within all the complexities, and, without creating or deepening any invisibility, was about our human need to connect. Our need to belong. Our need for community. Our desire for connectedness. If that were the starting point, might we be able to see each other as human beings first?
Director, Amerikin by Chisa Hutchinson
